We’re one week away from the start of training camps around the National Hockey League, with the 2025-26 campaign set to get underway in 25 days, so it feels like the perfect time to begin by four-part Season Preview series starting off with the Atlantic Division.
This offseason was quieter than normal, aside from a three-week period in late-June/early-July, but teams in the Atlantic Division were in the thick of things, including the Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, all of whom made significant moves this summer.
The Atlantic Division has become one of, if not the best in the National Hockey League in the last decade, with the last seven years featuring a member of the division in the Stanley Cup Final (2021 had no Atlantic Division, but Final featured Montreal & Tampa Bay).
It certainly feels like we could see five teams from the Atlantic Division reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second season in a row, that’s how competitive it is heading into the 2025-26 campaign and with all that said, let’s take a look at each club, starting with the Boston Bruins.
Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins fans are still trying to forget about the 2024-25 season. The club missed out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2016, finished tied for last in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers, oh, and traded their captain and long-time Bruins forward Brad Marchand within the division to the Florida Panthers.
Last year’s disastrous season led to some changes off the ice, as one would expect. While Jim Montgomery was replaced by Joe Sacco on an interim basis last November, the team appointed former Bruin Marco Sturm as Head Coach, marking his return to an NHL bench for the first time since 2021-22, when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.
On the ice, not a whole lot has changed with the Boston Bruins, they didn’t really lose any key players to their roster, while their most notable addition this summer was forward Tanner Jeannot, who inked a five-year deal with the club on Canada Day. They also landed Viktor Arvidsson in a trade with the Edmonton Oilers.
Notable Additions: Tanner Jeannot (F), Viktor Arvidsson (F), Mikey Eyssimont (F), Jordan Harris (D), Sean Kuraly (F).
Notable Subtractions: Brandon Bussi (G), Vinni Lettieri (F), Parker Wotherspoon (D).
Player To Watch: Mason Lohrei.
First Game: Wednesday, October 8th @ Washington Capitals at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres and their fans are in desperate need of playoff hockey. The last time playoff hockey made an appearance in Upstate New York was in 2010-11. To put that in perspective for you, that was the first term of the Obama administration, Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO was the song of the summer and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was released in theatres.
In the 14 years since we saw playoff hockey in Buffalo, a lot has changed on and off the ice, but the Sabres have a decent core, led by Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson. The odds Buffalo makes it to the postseason this year are quite slim once again, with teams around them in the division getting better this summer, but I’d expect them to be a lot more competitive this time around and be in the mix right until the end of the regular season.
This summer, there’s no question that their biggest move was moving on from RFA forward JJ Peterka after the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on a new deal. The Sabres shipped him to the Utah Mammoth in exchange for forward Josh Doan – son of Shane Doan – as well as defenseman Michael Kesselring.
Notable Additions: Josh Doan (F), Michael Kesselring (D), Alex Lyon (G), Justin Danforth (F).
Notable Subtractions: JJ Peterka (F), Jacob Bernard-Docker (D), Kale Clague (D), James Reimer (G), Erik Brannstrom (D), Lukas Rousek (F).
Player To Watch: Jack Quinn.
First Game: Thursday, October 9th vs New York Rangers at 7 p.m. ET.
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings enter their 100th season in the National Hockey League with one goal in mind – returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after a nine-year absence.
It hasn’t been an easy nine years for the Red Wings, but they have ended up with some great young pieces to build around including Moritz Seider, Lucas Raymond and Axel Sandin-Pellikka to go along with captain Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat and future Hockey Hall of Famer, Patrick Kane.
While Detroit Red Wings General Manager Steve Yzerman didn’t do a ton this summer, with his most notable move being the acquisition of goaltender John Gibson from the Anaheim Ducks, I do think the club will take a step forward this year and push for a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Notable Additions: John Gibson (G), Jacob Bernard-Docker (D), James van Riemsdyk (F), Mason Appleton (F).
Notable Subtractions: Petr Mrazek (G), Vladimir Tarasenko (F), Jeff Petry (D), Alex Lyon (G).
Player To Watch: Marco Kasper.
First Game: Thursday, October 9th vs Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. ET.
Florida Panthers
Not much needs to be said about the Florida Panthers. They’re just the third team to win back-to-back Stanley Cups since 2000, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning and are looking for their fourth consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final this year.
Heading into the summer, the Panthers had three big pending unrestricted free agents – Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad and Brad Marchand, with many believing that the club would only be able to keep one or two of them. Well, Bill Zito pulled some magic out of his hat and got all three locked up to new contracts before Canada Day.
The Panthers didn’t need to do much to their roster this summer, but were able to bring in some nice depth pieces including forward Luke Kunin, defenseman Jeff Petry and between the pipes, new additions Brandon Bussi and Daniil Tarasov will compete for the backup role behind Sergei Bobrovsky. Tarasov likely has the edge, however, as he brings 65 games of NHL experience to the Panthers.
Notable Additions: Luke Kunin (F), Jeff Petry (D), Brandon Bussi (G), Daniil Tarasov (G), Jack Studnicka (F).
Notable Subtractions: Kaapo Kahkonen (G), Nate Schmidt (D), Nico Sturm (F), Vitek Vanecek (G).
Player To Watch: Anton Lundell.
First Game: Tuesday, October 7th vs Boston Bruins at 5 p.m. ET.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens took a big leap forward in their rebuild last season, sneaking into the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference thanks to incredible seasons from Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, along with a Calder Trophy-winning campaign from rookie defenseman Lane Hutson.
This season, Montreal’s goal has to be to make it back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and in all honesty, they should with the group they have. Whether they’re able to challenge for third in the Atlantic Division or have to settle for one of the two wild card positions, will come down to health and progression of their younger players such as Juraj Slafkovsky.
Montreal made arguably the biggest trade of the offseason, landing 25-year-old blueliner Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in exchange for Emil Heineman and two 2025 first round picks.
Regardless of which team you cheer for, the Canadiens are going to play an exciting brand of hockey this year with all eyes on 2024 fifth overall pick Ivan Demidov as he gets ready for his first season in the National Hockey League after getting a taste towards the end of the 2024-25 campaign and in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Notable Additions: Noah Dobson (D), Sammy Blais (F), Joe Veleno (F), Kaapo Kahkonen (G), Zachary Bolduc (F).
Notable Subtractions: Emil Heineman (F), Christian Dvorak (F), Joel Armia (F), David Savard (D), Michael Pezzetta (F), Logan Mailloux (D).
Player To Watch: Ivan Demidov.
First Game: Wednesday, October 8th @ Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. ET.
Ottawa Senators
After seven seasons without playoff hockey in the Nation’s Capital, the Ottawa Senators turned things around in a big way, recording 19 more points than the year prior, which got them into the postseason as the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, setting up a Battle of Ontario in the first round.
Thanks to some big performances from goaltender Linus Ullmark, the Senators were able to win a couple of games in the playoffs, but ultimately fell to the Maple Leafs in six games. Making it to the playoffs last season was a big accomplishment for Steve Staios’ group and they’re hoping to use it as a stepping stone this year as they push for third place in the division.
Staios wasn’t entirely busy this summer, but he was able to bring in some more center depth by signing former Stanley Cup champion Lars Eller to a one-year deal on July 1st. The club also lost goaltender Anton Forsberg to the free agent market as he signed with the Los Angeles Kings, opening up a spot on the roster for Leevi Merilainen.
Notable Additions: Lars Eller (F), Arthur Kaliyev (F), Olle Lycksell (F).
Notable Subtractions: Anton Forsberg (G), Adam Gaudette (F), Travis Hamonic (D).
Player To Watch: Dylan Cozens.
First Game: Thursday, October 9th @ Tampa Bay Lightning at 7 p.m. ET.
Tampa Bay Lightning
In their first season of the post-Steven Stamkos era, the Tampa Bay Lightning showed that they can still be a formidable force in the Atlantic Division, finishing second behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, with Nikita Kucherov leading the way with 84 assists and 121 points in 78 games.
However, for the third consecutive season, the Tampa Bay Lightning saw themselves exit the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the first round, losing in five games to their state rivals and now two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers.
Despite not making any real big moves this summer, as long as Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy are around, you can’t write off the Tampa Bay Lightning and it wouldn’t be a shock to anyone if they were to find a way to win the Atlantic Division this season for the first time since 2019.
Notable Additions: Pontus Holmberg (F), Jakob Pelletier (F), Boris Katchouk (F).
Notable Subtractions: Nick Perbix (D), Isaac Howard (F), Cam Atkinson (F), Luke Glendening (D).
Player To Watch: Conor Geekie.
First Game: Thursday, October 9th vs Ottawa Senators at 7 p.m. ET.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The biggest news of the summer in the entire National Hockey League was the break up of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ “Core 4” after General Manager Brad Treliving worked out a deal with the Vegas Golden Knights on June 30th that saw the club land centerman Nic Roy in return.
The loss of Mitch Marner to Vegas is going to be hard to overcome in my opinion, whether you’re a fan of him or not. He might not have showed at times in the postseason when his team needed him the most, but it’s not easy to replace the production he brought during the regular season.
While it may have been a disappointing ending to the 2024-25 season for the Maple Leafs, losing in yet another Game 7, coming one win away from their first Eastern Conference Final since 2002, but fans should be excited for what’s ahead this year.
With the additions of Nic Roy, Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua to the forward group, the Maple Leafs will become harder to play against and it’s going to be interesting to see how Head Coach Craig Berube decides to construct his lines for the first game of the 2025-26 season and more importantly, who is put in Mitch Marner’s spot alongside Auston Matthews.
Key Additions: Matias Maccelli (F), Nic Roy (F), Dakota Joshua (F), Michael Pezzetta (F), Vinni Lettieri (F).
Key Subtractions: Mitch Marner (F), Ryan Reaves (F), Pontus Holmberg (F).
Players To Watch: Bobby McMann.
First Game: Wednesday, October 8th vs Montreal Canadiens at 7 p.m. ET.
(Photo Credit: NHL)